Breaking the speed limit in a car is illegal, and if I had it my way as a coach, it would be illegal in running workouts, too. In a runner’s mind faster is always better, and any run that is longer or harder than prescribed is considered an achievement. However, if you’re following a RunnersConnect or your coach’s training, running faster or longer than prescribed might actually be detrimental to your potential at your goal race and your long-term progression.
Each workout, recovery run, and rest day in our training plans has a specific purpose. To maximize the effectiveness of each run and to make the absolute most out of every mile, it’s important that you adhere to pace guidelines.
Here’s a quick rundown of common running workouts and why breaking the speed limit is a bad idea:
Tempo runs
A tempo run is designed to improve a runner’s lactate threshold. During easy running, your body breaks down sugars to fuel the muscles, which produces lactic acid. When running easy, the body recycles lactic acid back into energy and efficiently expels the waste products. As you continue to run faster and demand more energy, the production of lactic acid will slowly increase. The point at which your body produces more lactic acid than it is able to reconvert back into energy is referred to as your lactate threshold. A tempo run requires running slightly slower than the body’s lactate threshold, so that you train your body to increase its ability to reconvert lactate back into energy. Tempo runs extend endurance and the ability to maintain a faster pace over longer races like the 10k and the half marathon.
Why running faster during a tempo run is detrimental
When you push too far beyond your lactate threshold pace, you prevent your body from learning how to effectively clear lactate. Instead of becoming more efficient by handling a moderate and consistent amount of lactate, your body is flooded. It isn’t able to benefit from a prolonged period of lactate clearance. By speeding up, you don’t achieve the benefits of the workout and actually walk away from your tempo run less fit than you would have by staying on the prescribed pace.
Recovery runs
After a hard workout, a runner’s muscles will have micro-tears from the forceful contractions which happen at fast speeds. These micro-tears cause muscle soreness, and make training the day after a hard workout difficult. The body heals these small micro-tears through the circulatory system, which delivers the oxygen and nutrients to the muscles that need repair. An easy recovery run increases blood flow to the muscles specific to running, helping to clear out waste products and deliver fresh oxygen and nutrients.
Why running recovery runs too fast is detrimental
Your body does not have an infinite ability to heal itself and requires proper rest in between hard bouts. If you run too hard on an easy day, you create more muscle tears than you’re fixing, extending the amount of time you need to fully recover. This can cause you to run poorly on subsequent workouts because your muscles are still fatigued. Keeping your easy days truly easy will promote faster recovery, allowing you to be prepared for the next hard session and produce maximum results.
Speed workouts (VO2max)
Defined simply, VO2 max is the maximum amount of oxygen the body can utilize during exercise. Training at VO2 max increases this limit, allowing you to have a quicker leg turnover and improve your top speed. In addition, speed workouts increase leg muscle strength and power, which reduces how much energy it takes to run at a certain speed, also known as improving your “economy.”
Why running speed workouts too fast is detrimental
During VO2 max workouts and speed work, you’re asking your body to push its limits. When running near your top speed, the likelihood of injury is increased since muscles are being contracted to their max while under duress. Your training schedule will assign workouts that hit your VO2 max to develop speed, but keep you from going over the red line. Keeping your speed workouts within the given pace range will reduce the risk of injury and allow you to string together consistent training.
Our training plans are an intricate puzzle that pieces together different types of workouts. It maximizes the available time to prepare you to have your best performance on race day. Running faster than prescribed paces may seem as if it’s advancing your fitness, but you are actually limiting your progress and increasing the likelihood of getting injured. Before you step out the door on your next run, think to yourself, “What is the purpose of my run today?” This will ensure you stay on course and give you the confidence you need to execute a plan as it’s prescribed, even if it means obeying the speed limit.
A version of this post originally appeared at competitor.com
4 Responses
The question I have then, how do I know I’m running the pace which will maximize the effect in these three regimes?
Is level of effort (LOE) enough? Or should I set an objective pace for a future event, and just stick to that pace through all the training up to the event?
Especially after this last marathon training bout and recovering to an upcoming 5 mile, I’m finding that simple LOE has me running far too fast for the paces I intend to run. Especially in the easy 6-10 mile runs. Not that I’m complaining about being faster than I meant to be.
Hi, I have the same question as Matt. I understand the differences and the importance of each type of run, but how can you then establish the pace for each type ? Are there simple rules that can be followed? Any help is very appreciated!! Thank you.
Hey Jeff! I have a similar question: You say to not run faster than “prescribed.” However, what if the prescribed is just too slow. For example, I just ran a 7 mile tempo at a pace that was 20 seconds faster than prescribed. Now, what is to say that I ran too fast? By definition, a 7 mile tempo has to be slower than my 10K pace, so how can you say I ran too fast? HR is a good way to tell the correct pace, but you do not like using HR for this purpose. I absolutely agree with your premise that running too fast is not good, but we are still left with the problem of defining what is the correct pace. Thanks for all you do!
Hi Steve, this was a general recommendation, and some experienced runners may find that this does not work for you. If you ran faster than your 10k pace for 7 miles, then you are definitely on track for a PR in the 10k! We explained why you should not run faster in the article itself. This article may help you a little as we explain why lactate clearance is important https://runnersconnect.net/coach-corner/lactate-clearance/ and here we explain what a tempo is https://runnersconnect.net/running-training-articles/training-with-thresholds-in-the-right-zone/. Hope this helps!